A future world champion? Mercedes signs young Chinese talent

Like many teams on the F1 grid, Mercedes has an extensive junior program to train young drivers from the karts to a possible seat in the Formula 1 team. World champion Lewis Hamilton's team has yet another new talent.

The newest member of the Mercedes stable is Yuanpu Cui, according to reports. Motorsportweek.com. The thirteen year old karter is from China and currently drives for Kart Republic in the OK Junior class. Cui hails from the Chinese city of Xi'an and began racing professionally in 2014.

Cui is the sixth driver to officially join the Mercedes training team. Other members include Frederik Vesti (Formula 3), Paul Aron (Formula Regional European Championship) and fellow drivers Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Alex Powell. F1 driver George Russell also officially still belongs to the Mercedes juniors and could replace Valtteri Bottas next year.

China is still waiting for its first Formula One driver. Alpine junior Guanyu Zhou currently seems to have the best chance of representing China in Formula 1. With two wins, he currently leads the Formula 2 championship and has already done some F1 tests.